Drifting
by muggleborn.dragon.ryder
Summary: I'm going in and out...I can't ever hold onto anything...I'm slowly drifting away...Rated T for torture, angst and just general stuff.
1. Chapter 1

_**Drifting**_

_**Chapter One **_

**A/N: Okay, guys! I've only seen the Lorax one and a half times. I would say twice, except I stopped halfway through rewatching because I was like, no, I don't really want to keep rewatching right now. So, anyway, the point is that I've been trying to study the characters, but I...I just feel like I did a terrible job on O'Hare. I don't know so much about Ted. He feels sorta kinda in-character, maybe a little braver than he is in the movie. But I saw him as...I don't know how to describe it. I think that O'Hare would've seen him as a very difficult person to control or manipulate, which is one of the many reasons why I think he didn't like Ted. Because the whole thing to him was about controlling the people and Ted broke through that, because he can't be controlled. I don't know.  
**

**Secondly, although I have seen it a limited amount of times, I still stand by the fact that is amazingly awesome and I love it. Maybe not as much as How to Train Your Dragon, but still. It was pretty awesome. **

**Now, thirdly. This is my very first Lorax fanfiction, so please, please be kind if I didn't get a lot right. I thought O'Hare was the mayor for much of the movie the first time around, so laugh at me all you want if I made mistakes. I'm really sorry if it's horrible. **

* * *

I awoke in darkness and I awoke all alone. My head was swimming and little blue lights were tinting my vision a strange color. I rose up slightly, a metallic clink filling my ears, the taste of blood flooding my mouth. I licked my lips and found them cracked and dry. I licked them again and swallowed. The back of my throat was like sandpaper. My limbs were heavy and my arms didn't want to move. Half of me wanted to go back to sleep, but the other half of me registered that something wasn't right. I was in the dark.

I always left my lamp burning at night. When I was ten years old, I remembered turning my lamp off and thinking to myself that I was a "big kid" now, and that I wasn't afraid of the dark. I made it maybe ten minutes before I had to turn the light back on, and since then, I've kept my lamp on my bedside table, where I can easily reach it. If anybody came into my room at night and woke me, I'd quickly flick off the lamp and make something up about having been up late and forgetting to turn it off before falling asleep.

The pitch darkness was a little bit frightening, even then, but what was more frightening was the fact that I just couldn't see anything. I heard that metallic clink again as I tried to move my hands, and a slightly muffled voice came from somewhere in the darkness. "The kid's waking up!"

"He's awake?"

"He's awake!"

"Get the boss!"

Only seconds later, lights were flicking on, blinding me. My eyes watered as I stared up into the harsh white glare, but I had other things to focus on right then. I could see suddenly, and what I saw wasn't good. I was in a long, low room, made almost entirely of metal. My hands were chained securely to the low, uncomfortable desk chair I sat in, and the person standing slightly away from me was somebody I thought I recognized.

Dark sunglasses…dark suit…but my head was pounding so badly I couldn't quite remember who he was. The metal door across from me slid open with a quiet whoosh and the last person I expected to see came striding across the room towards me. His boots made a clicking sound on the metal floor as he walked, and his face was stretched into a wide, confident smirk. It reminded me of a lion seeing terrified prey and knowing he has won.

O'Hare stopped when he reached me, folding his arms across his chest. "Hello, Teddy."

"What are you doing here?" I demanded of him, and then I heard the clinking sound as I tried to move my hands to mimic his posture. "What am _I _doing here?"

He moved forward, pushing a few strands of hair out of my eyes. When he locked gazes with me, he smiled slowly, showing his teeth. It didn't look like a natural smile; it looked cold and menacing. "What_ are _you doing here?" he whispered, a triumphant gleam coming into his eyes. "I think you know what you're doing here, Ted."

"No…" My voice trailed off.

He smirked. "And they warned me to watch out because they thought you were smart."

"Who warned you…?" My voice trailed off weakly. I couldn't continue my sentences. "Who warned you about me? And…and where are we?"

"Somewhere," he responded vaguely. "Somewhere far outside of town, Teddy. A place where people won't find you. Where they might just forget about you."

"What…what are you talking about?" No, that stutter in my voice wasn't from fear at his words, I told myself. I told myself it was just because I was confused, because he wasn't giving me any real answers. "What do you mean, where they might…might forget about me…?"

"You pulled an unwise stunt with those trees," O'Hare explained quietly. "You were a fool, Teddy. Why didn't you listen to me when I told you to forget about them? Where was your head when I told you to never go out of town again? Why did you ignore me, Ted? I meant business and you treated it like a game."

I could feel my hands shaking slightly, causing the handcuffs to clink against each other in a worrying way. But I also felt my jaw drop as I stared at him in disbelief. "Wha…that's…_that's_ why you brought me here? You're mad because I didn't listen to you? Because I brought back trees?!"

"You don't even understand what you've done!" he howled. "Because of that one tree growing in the town square, my business crumbled overnight. I fell from grace, I lost my position. I used to be a respected businessman in the community, Ted. You made me lose everything."

"I wasn't the one taking advantage of people!" I began hotly. "You have _some_ nerve! People are gonna be looking for me all over! You won't get away with this!"

He shook his head disbelievingly. "Open your eyes, Ted. I expected better from a kid as smart as you. Nobody's even noticed you're gone."

"They…they have to." I sounded unconvinced, even to my own ears. "They…"

"Why?" O'Hare asked, amusement clear in his voice. "Because you're the great Ted Wiggins, the one who…what was that garbage?…the one who speaks for the trees, is it? Is that why they should come looking for you? Think about it, Ted. You've done your job here. You got the tree growing safely, you taught people how to take care of the trees. You told them what the trees do. You're not needed anymore."

"I…it's not the same thing! They weren't…just keeping me around because they needed me, it's not like that!"

"I think it is." he nodded. "It's better this way, anyway. Now I don't have to risk you getting any more _ideas_." His voice turned suddenly threatening on that last word; his teeth were gritted in menace. "So just sit here like a good little boy until we can dispose of you, and teach the world why we decided to do away with trees in the first place."

"You won't get away with this," I spat. "The people already believe in trees too deeply. They're not gonna go flocking back to your precious air anymore, not now that they know the alternative."

"Keep telling yourself that, Teddy." He nodded condescendingly at me, giving me a pat on the head before turning to the door. "Good talk." He pressed a button on the wall, and the doors swung open with that quiet whooshing noise again. "Knock him out," he added quietly to one of the dark-suited men flanking the door.

The man nodded to show he understood. And I did, too.

The man walked slowly away from the door, out of my line of vision. I turned my head, pleased to see that the rest of my body wasn't bound like my hands. I watched him lean over a small silver tray, but holding what, I couldn't imagine. When he came back over to me, he held a long, shining needle in one hand, a finger on the plunger. I shuddered, trying to jerk away as he put a hand on my shoulder, tilting my chin up to reveal my neck.

"No!" I jerked away, the cuffs clinking with my every movement. "Don't you dare!" That was definitely not the right thing to say.

The other man on the other side of the door laughed mockingly.

I'd never heard the dark-suited men speak before, but when the one holding the needle did, it was very deep, very threatening. "Stay still."

"No, let me go!" I leaned away from him, trying to hide my neck. I didn't want to be put to sleep, because unconsciousness screamed vulnerability. And the last thing I wanted was to be defenseless with O'Hare just around the corner.

"Stay still!" And then the man had me in a death grip, holding me by the shoulders tightly, so tightly I couldn't get away. He put a hand on my cheek, turning it away to get another shot at my neck, and stabbed the needle in instantly. I felt him depressing the plunger, felt the needle stinging the skin of my neck, and I felt him slowly drawing it back out. The needle was now empty, posing no more threat. He put the needle back on the silver tray, letting me drop back against my seat.

My eyelids fluttered. I wanted to fight, but I was so exhausted. The little blue lights appeared in front of my eyes again, and the fluorescent lights on the ceiling began to twirl. My eyes just wouldn't stay open. I had to let them close.

"He's a fighter, this one," said one of the men in a deep voice over me.

"We'll just have to be more careful in the future of that."

"He's never going to escape. We didn't sign up to take people prisoner, or don't you remember?"

I couldn't make sense of what they were saying. Were they talking about me?

"I don't think anybody predicted a twelve-year-old kid being this hard to control. The boss might never be able to do as he wishes with him."

Blackness closed over me.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Drifting**_

_**Chapter Two **_

**A/N: I'm so sorry for this horribly lame chapter in which Ted is so horribly OOC... :C but thank you for all the reviews :) please don't quit reviewing because of this chapter... **

* * *

I awoke several more times in different places; sometimes the lights were on, sometimes they were off, but I was only ever awake for instants before I heard the telltale cry of, "Knock him out!" and I felt the needle going into my skin again. Every time, I fought the person holding the needle, fought them with everything I had, but I never had enough strength. My body was slow from fatigue and sedatives, and I couldn't think very quickly, or move very fast.

"Let me go!" I tried to give my voice power, but my tongue felt thick and heavy and hard to move. "Let me go!"

"Stay still."

"No!" I curled a hand into a fist, trying to reach out, to punch whoever held me, but strong hands suddenly found my arms, pinning me down. That familiar, stinging sensation as the needle pierced my skin came back again and I winced, recognizing what they were doing.

"Get off me!" I cried, but already colors were swirling into a blurry mass above me, and I could feel myself losing consciousness.

When I finally did awaken fully, my mouth was dry, like somebody had force-fed me a bag of salt. I licked my lips and raised my head, my hands giving off that metallic little _clink-clink_ again. I groaned, twisting my head to see the handcuffs. I had been sort of hoping that everything that had happened had been one weird dream.

I looked around myself, hoping for familiarity, but I wasn't in the metal room anymore, and it was a folding chair that I was cuffed to, not a desk chair. In one corner, there was a long, low wooden desk, a single door, and one of the dark-suited men standing guard. I licked my lips again. My mouth was so dry. I had a sudden desire for water, but I pushed it back, wondering how much noise it would take to get the guard away from the door and over to me.

As I began to lightly tug on my handcuffs, his shadow fell across me, his hand smacking the back of my head, fingers twisting in my hair. "Stop moving."

I let my head drop, waves of pain rolling through my head. "Where am I?"

"That's not for you to know."

"Excuse me." I glared up at him. "I've been forcibly taken away from my house, put under numerous times, and been handcuffed to a chair. I deserve to know."

I thought I could see a shadow of a smirk on his face. "You have nerve, kid. That's gonna get you killed here."

I rolled my eyes, the chains clinking softly again. "Thank you. I've been told things like that before."

"Don't start," he warned me, but I think he only changed the subject because he didn't have a good comeback. "We have means of shutting you up, and we're not afraid to use them."

I know that line probably sounds like something straight out some cheesy horror movie, but it was a lot scarier when said. The thought of their means of "shutting me up" honestly chilled my blood. I didn't want to be afraid, especially not of these men, who I'd always regarded as safe. They worked for O'Hare and O'Hare only wanted the best for us, right? I'd think to myself. After all, he was the man who thought of a way to sell air.

I scowled as I remembered my younger self's stupid, _stupid_ thoughts. The memory of O'Hare smiling gloatingly over me just…yesterday…three days ago…wait. I didn't even know what day it was anymore.

The man was studying me and his expression was torn between satisfaction and confusion, as if he was trying to guess my train of thought.

I looked up at him. "What day is it?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"It was Friday the last time I saw my calendar, but I've lost track of time lately. Would it be Saturday, then?"

He scowled, but grudgingly gave me an answer. "It's Tuesday."

"Oh, excellent, you're actually answering my questions, now?"

"Don't get too comfortable with it," he sneered. "I know you're used to living a spoiled little life in Thneedville, but O'Hare will take care of you soon enough."

"Spoiled little…?" my voice trailed off and I found myself unable to complete the sentence. My brows twisted down into a scowl again. "_That's_ nice."

"Now." He gave a great sigh, as if I had no idea how hard it was being him. For good measure, he gave me another cuff on the back of the head. "Shut up."

Little stars burst in front of my eyes and I tried to reach out a hand to put it on the back of my head, forgetting I was chained to the chair. My instinctive reaction was so strong that it completely upended the chair, throwing me onto the floor, my hands still locked behind me. I hadn't been far up off the floor, but it still hurt to hit the cold tile so hard.

The man began to right me, but I snapped at him, "No, wouldn't want you to help me along in my spoiled little life."

He scowled, surprised, but insisted on righting the chair. "That's what you get for being stupid, boy."

"So, this spoiled little life thing," I said conversationally and he gave a sigh.

"We've been through this before. You need to shut up."

"What a hard life you do lead, having to kidnap people for the heck of it."

Another sigh from him, and I opened my mouth to say more, but in an instant, he had swung the chair around until our faces were inches apart. He glared at me, one hand on the back of the chair. The other came up to smack me across the face so hard my ears rang and I cried out. "When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it." he snarled. "I'm not going to be gracious with you, boy. Now you be quiet, unless I have to _make_ you."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Drifting**_

_**Chapter Three**_

**A/N: Okay, okay! I actually legitimately liked this chapter. I don't know in-character it is, but at least I didn't have to worry about Arthur, who's sorta OC, sorta canon, because O'Hare did canonically have tons of people working for him. Anyway. I just think Ted annoys Arthur. I don't think Arthur will guard him anymore. He's too annoying. **

* * *

"Forty-three…forty-four…forty-five…" I mumbled under my breath.

The pain from the man's smack had long since faded and my head felt alright, but nothing could take away the sting of boredom.

The man standing guard at the door shot me a wary look. "What are you doing?"

I winced, stretching my neck. "How many tiles does this ceiling have?"

"Why?" He sounded suspicious, like I might be planning to use the number of ceiling tiles for an escape plan. But I didn't like my chances against him and his dark-suited twin and, besides that, I was going to figure out exactly what was going on before I left here.

"I'm bored," I replied. "I'm trying to count the ceiling tiles, but I'm not sure I can see them all from where I am."

"You're actually…counting the ceiling tiles?"

"Trying to," I corrected. "I'm up to forty-five, see, but I keep confusing the forty-sixth for one I've already counted. They're closer together than the others are, so it just looks like one huge tile. It's really frustrating."

"Count your tiles quietly."

I heaved a sigh.

* * *

"Fifty-seven!"

"What?"

"This ceiling has _fifty-seven_ tiles!"

"Don't tell me you've been counting them."

"Well, you've been so hospitable, I just had to do something with all this free time. What should I do next? Count the floor tiles?"

The man sighed. "You're bored?"

"Yep."

"And you're going to be insufferably annoying until you find something to do?"

"Being insufferably annoying is a gift, my mom tells me. She says I inherited it from my father."

"I bet she's divorced."

"Yep."

"So you really are bored?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Get up."

"I kinda can't."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Not mine."

_Clink, clink. _

He dropped the key back in his pocket, but I didn't forget which. His coat had several black pockets, but I kept my eyes trained on the one the key was in as he led me out of the room. For a moment, the lights glowed red and a siren wailed, announcing a "security breach" but the man slammed a huge hand down on a blue button on the wall, and the sirens shut up. He tugged me along, up a flight of stairs, but I kept my eyes on the blue button. "What was that?"

"A warning." he replied shortly. "So if any prisoner ever tries to escape, we'll know." But he watched me out of the corner of his eye for my expression, and I tried my hardest not to give him one. My gaze traveled back to the blue button. Maybe, after O'Hare finally explained some things…

I don't know if O'Hare was expecting him today or not, but the man didn't bother to knock when he reached the metal door. He waved a hand across a strange device on the wall that looked like a motion detector, and the doors swung open, revealing O'Hare sitting at a long, low desk. He was holding a manila folder and he looked tired and worn, like whatever he was reading was draining.

The dark-suited man gave me a push up to the desk and walked forward with me, towering over O'Hare for a minute or so.

When it became clear that ignoring us wouldn't make us go away, O'Hare lifted his eyes up to meet mine, cocking a thick black eyebrow. "What do you two want?" he barked. "I'm in the middle of things, Arthur."

The man, who I now realized was Arthur, nodded. "The kid's bored."

"Oh?" O'Hare looked up at me, disinterested. "Do you know what I do for bored prisoners, Teddy?"

I shook my head cautiously. This didn't seem like a good time to speak, even though a catty remark was teetering on the edge of my tongue.

"If you find out, maybe you won't be so bored anymore," he smirked. "Take him to the freezer," he added to Arthur.

The freezer?

Arthur grabbed me by the chains wound around my hands again, physically dragging me away, and I knew he'd hoped that O'Hare would give him an answer like that. I had the feeling he was tired of standing guard over me, and that counting tiles was really only making things worse.

When we reached what must've been the right door, there was that same motion detector on the wall. He waved a hand over it, the door slid open for him, and he shoved me inside. I instantly knew why they called it 'the freezer'.

I shivered as a blast of cold air hit me, and Arthur offered me a tiny smirk before the door began to close between us. "We'll leave you free to move around, so it'll take you longer to freeze to death."

The words made a chill far worse than that of the freezer run up my spine. "Wait!"

The door clicked closed, and my frantic hands hit smooth, frigid metal. I sank slowly to the ground and shivered again.


End file.
